Chronicles of One
by Tawnyfeather
Summary: This tells the tale of Onestar. From kit, to apprentice, to warrior, to deputy, and finally to leader. It gives vent to his dark history, and names the trials placed upon his young life. Please R&R! Chapter Two up!
1. Prologue

**Chronicles of One**

This tells the tale of Onestar. From kit, to apprentice, to warrior, to deputy, and finally to leader. It gives vent to his dark history, and names the trials placed upon his young life.

Prologue

Dawnflower stopped to catch her breath by the gorge, panting hard as she looked back to where the RiverClan camp lay. The attack from ThunderClan, though hinted at the last Gathering, had taken her unprepared Clan completely by surprise. The least Dawnflower could to was to save her one kit, ThunderClan seemed quite prepared to rip RiverClan apart.

But at least here she and her kit were safe. For now anyway. Two ThunderClan warriors had been sent after her when the leader first noticed her disappearance and that of her kit. Dawnflower and her kit were on the run for their lives.

But Dawnflower did have one hope, that WindClan would at least offer her kit shelter. Her mate, after all, was a WindClan tom, and would want to offer protection to his only kit.

The sounds of pursuit got louder.

Without further hesitation, Dawnflower picked up her kit and carried him towards the gorge. She knew that was a place, just beyond RiverClan borders, where WindClan territory met theirs away from the gorge. It was where she had met her mate. There was a much calmer stream there, one that led unwaveringly through WindClan territory.

The ThunderClan warriors were getting closer.

By the stream, sitting just inside WindClan territory, was Darkfoot. The WindClan warrior was anxious about his mate, Dawnflower, and awaiting the news that she had promised would come tonight. But so far there was no sign was of the beautiful, pale gray RiverClan she-cat that had taken his heart. He had no idea that his mate was just minutes away, bringing the most momentous news with her he could imagine.

And so, Darkfoot sat waiting.

Razorstar, the ThunderClan leader, crouched in front of the RiverClan leader, Reedstar. The dark brown mottled tabby tom glared at Reedstar and, in one powerful leap, landed on her back and was clawing her fur out. "Now you will die, Reedstar!" he yowled.

"No." meowed Reedstar defiantly. "I will not succumb to you, Razorstar. I refuse to give you an inch of RiverClan territory. Me and all my Clan shall die before we give ThunderClan a whiskers-length of our territory." The black she-cat wriggled and squirmed to get free, but to no avail.

"Okay then, if you absolutely refuse to give us want we want… there will be more suffering than you would ever know, if you just surrender to me now."

It was then that Reedstar's deputy, Lightfur, came hurtling in. He leaped upon Razorstar and threw the ThunderClan leader off of Reedstar. "You'll feel more suffering than you'll ever know if you and your Clan leave mine and my leader alone."

Lightfur's voice was a low, dangerous growl, and it didn't take a genius to tell Razorstar that he meant it. The ThunderClan leader backed away, and just when it seemed he would be going away and giving no further trouble, he ran back leaped upon Lightfur.

Before you could say 'mouse', Razorstar was a fox-length away and Lightfur was lying in a bloodied heap on the ground. The light brown tabby deputy's jaw was horrendously twisted into a crooked shape that gave him the appearance of an ever-present grin.

"Wha- what have you done to my deputy?" said Reedstar in a shocked mew. She bent down and pressed her nose into her deputy's bloodstained fur. Underneath, there but very faint, she felt a pulse.

Turning her now glaring, blazing eyes on Razorstar, she yowled, "Your crimes here will not go unpunished! Never think that RiverClan will give into you and your bloodthirsty warriors!"

It was that moment that the ThunderClan deputy, Tawnyspots, arrived upon the scene. His face was both anxious and grave at the same time. "Razorstar," he meowed, saluting his leader respectfully, "the RiverClan warriors are pushing us back towards Sunning rocks. They've got a whole front of their strongest warriors organizing to protect their camp. We've got to get out, or we'll be prisoners in this place." His voice was full of panic as he urged his leader on.

Razorstar hesitated. Glancing uneasily first at Reedstar then at the limp body of Lightfur and back. Then, with a growl of frustration, he tore away and followed his deputy, racing for the camp entrance. As he ran, Razorstar called to Reedstar over his shoulder, "Don't think we won't forget this! ThunderClan will get revenge on RiverClan one of these days!"

Meanwhile Dawnflower had just stumbled upon Darkfoot by the stream in their usual meeting place. She was so scared. Her eyes wide and her body shivering from fear. Quickly, she dropped her kit from her jaws, nuzzled him in the neck, and meowed, 'This is our one kit, Darkfoot. Please take care of him for me. Promise me you will."

Darkfoot took one look at his desperate mate, at his kit at his shadowy-gray paws, and listened to the sound of approaching ThunderClan warriors. Without hesitating he meowed, "Yes, I promise you Dawnflower, I will take care of our kit. But you have to be taken care of as well. Run. As fast as you've ever run in your life." He pressed his nose into her fur and gave her a comforting lick to quell her fears. '"Just go, Dawnflower. Everything will be alright. I promise."

Dawnflower looked uncertainly at Darkfoot, then drank in his warm, comforting scent one last time before emerging from the reeds that had shielded them, in plain view of the ThunderClan cats. One of the pursuers yowled, "There she is! Get her!" and the others all followed with jubilant cries of glee. As soon as she heard t6hat call, Dawnflower knew she was dead. But she tried bravely to get away anyway, though for her there was no hope.

Seconds later, a bloodcurdling screech of pain rent the still night air. Dawnflower was dead.

Back in the reeds, Dawnflower's cry reached Darkfoot's ears, but he tried his best to ignore it. From the time she had given him their kit, he knew she was dead, and he had sensed that she knew this too. Yet she had died a brave death, and the least he could do was keep his promise to her.

Picking up their kit, he started across WindClan territory to the WindClan camp. It was a still, clear night, and Silverpelt shone brightly above him. But for the first time, Darkfoot did not feel comforted by the knowledge that his warrior ancestors were close by. All he could feel was misery at Dawnflower's death, and the fierce desire to protect their kit.

So, with the kit dangling from his jaws and mewling pathetically as the cold air of the moorlands whipped his tiny body, Darkfoot ran as fast as he could toward camp. The familiar landscape flashed past as he ran as if all of StarClan were running with him. In no time at all he had reached the camp entrance.

Passing through the prickly tunnel of gorse that protected the camp on all sides, Darkfoot became aware of the silence, broken only by muffled snores. Trying hard not to wake his Clan, Darkfoot headed to the leader's den. Cottonstar, as he had expected, was asleep as well, but as he hesitated outside, her clear blue eyes opened and she meowed, "Enter."

Darkfoot did so, bringing the kit with him. Cottonstar was quite surprised by this, and meowed curiosly, "Darkfoot, where did you get that kit? He's not from WindClan, that's for sure."

"I- I found him. Near the edge of our territory near our border with RiverClan. Not the gorge." he added hastily as he saw Cottonstar's eyes widen in shock. "The river sort of trickles down to a stream near where I found him." he meowed, "And I was wondering, could we take him in? he doesn't seem to have any parents as far as I can tell, and he'll die without a mother."

Cottonstar contemplated his request for a few moments, then meowed, "We'll care for him now. But in the morning the rest of the Clan will help decide his fate. Go wake Whitenose. Tell her to meet me. Leave the kit here. You may come as well."

Darkfoot left and headed to the WindClan nursery. Whitenose was one of the three queens there. She was a tortoiseshell with bright amber eyes and an unusual white nose-bridge. She was asleep closest to the middle, as she had most recently kitted.

Darkfoot prodded her awake with his right forepaw and told her Cottonstar's message. Leaving her kits sleeping, Whitenose followed him into Cottonstar's den. Whitenose was surprised to see a kit there, but sat back to listen to Cottenstar's explanation.

"Whitenose," began Cottonstar, 'this kit needs a mother. I was wandering, will you nurse him."

Whitenose looked at the kit and was instantly filled with love. She bowed her head to Cottonstar and asked, "What is his name?"

"I was hoping you would name him."

"Well, in that case, because he is alone and we no nothing about him, I will call him Onekit."


	2. Chapter 1

Finally! I've been waiting for this chapter as long as you have, the only difference is that I've had the responsibility of writing this thing. I'm really sorry I couldn't get it to you sooner, but I've sort of had writer's block, the bane of every author. You never know when it's going to strike, and when it does, you have no idea how long it's going to last. But anyway, here's the next chapter, so enjoy!

Chapter One

"Onekit!" called out Whitenose, exiting the nursery. Behind her spilled out her two other kits, a pale sandy brown she-kit and a black-and-white tom, Whitenose turned to them and asked, "Sandkit, Patchkit, do you know where that pesky Onekit went? I swear, he gives me more trouble than the rest of you combined!"

"No, we don't know where he is," answered Sandkit, "but I do think he said that he was going to be hanging out with the apprentices."

"Hmm. Thank you. Here," she said, tossing them a moss ball that had been left lying around outside the nursery. While the two kits busied themselves throwing the ball of moss back and forth, Whitenose headed over to the apprentice's den on the other side of the clearing. Sure enough, as she got closer she was able to distinguish three voices, one of them Onekit's.

"Really?" he was asking, his voice squeaking with excitement.

"Yep." replied a voice, full of self-importance. "Those ShadowClan warriors didn't know what hit them."

"Cool!" exclaimed Onekit again. This time, Whitenose was able to see the other two cats, a small white she-cat named Whitepaw and a mottled dark brown tom named Mudpaw.

"Oh, don't listen to him," mewed Whitepaw, hitting Mudpaw gently on the side with her tail tip. "He's just showing off. I was there at that border skirmish and I'll tell you, the only cats_ he_ attacked were a couple of young apprentices scared witless at the fact that they were actually in a battle. I actually feel rather sorry for them."

Mudpaw glared indignantly at Whitepaw as she and Onekit burst out laughing at his expense. "They have been just a couple of scared apprentices this time, Whitepaw, but next time, I _will_ show you that I can drive away a warrior."

"Oh come on Mudpaw! Lighten up! There's never even gonna_ be _a next time! Judging by the state that those cats were in when we sent them off I'll be surprised if they even have the nerve let alone the courage to show their whiskers around our border again!" exclaimed Whitepaw.

"Yeah well, we'll just see about that, now won't we?" asked Mudpaw cryptically.

"What do you mean?" asked Whitepaw sharply, all the laughter disappearing from her voice. The fact that one of her best friends might know something she didn't really set her fur on end, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Yeah, what _do_ you mean?" inquired Onekit, sensing the sudden seriousness of the conversation and wanting to remind the two older apprentices that he was still there.

"Well," Mudpaw leaned in closer as if he were about to tell them a big secret, "My mentor, Crowpelt, told me that ShadowClan has a new leader, Raggedstar, and that we should be weary of him. He says that he is a lot worse than most of the previous ShadowClan leaders, and probably won't hesitate to take something of ours if he feels he or his Clan needs it."

"But he can't do that!" burst out Onekit indignantly. His back was arched, his brown tabby fur standing up, and his eyes blazing. "I'd just like to see that piece of foxdung try to take a single pawstep of WindClan territory!"

"Hmmph. Calm down youngster, I only said he _might _try to do that. Nothing's set in stone just yet."

"Yeah, well, like Onekit said, I'd just like to see him try!" growled Whitepaw, sinking her claws into the dry moorland soil.

"Well, we should find out his intentions soon enough." said Mudclaw, lifting his head higher. "Crowpelt said I could attend the Gathering tonight, it'll be my first. Has Sparrowflight said if you could come yet?"

Whitepaw hung her head and shook it sadly. "No," she mewed, "she said I haven't earned the right to attend a Gathering yet."

"What!" exclaimed Mudpaw. "That's outrageous! You work harder than most of the other apprentices put together!"

"You know, I won't be going to the Gathering either," mewed Onekit. "I'll be able to keep you company, Whitepaw."

"Only if your mother let's you," Whitepaw pointed out, nodding toward Whitenose, who had been quietly sitting by apprentice's den, watching them without their even noticing it.

Mudpaw and Onekit turned their heads sharply to look at her, and then Onekit stood up and bounded over to her. "Hey, mom!" he cried, "Do you mind if I keep Whitepaw company tonight? Mudpaw is going to the Gathering but neither of us can come. Can I can I can I?" he begged.

Whitenose looked at the eager faces of both Onekit and Whitepaw, then shrugged and said, "Sure, knock yourselves out." Then, in a more motherly tone of voice, she added, "But you, Onekit, had better be back in the nursery before moonhigh. Any later and I'll ask Cottonstar to delay your apprenticeship for a day."

"What!? You can't do that! The ceremony's tomorrow!" cried Onekit in outrage.

"Well then, you'd better hope you make the deadline then, hadn't you?" asked Whitenose, and, smiling slightly in amusement at the indignant look on Onekit's face, turned and headed back to the nursery.

"All cats coming to the Gathering, prepare to leave now!" yowled Cottonstar from atop the tall rock in the center of the WindClan camp. As soon as she said this, she leaped off and went to wait at the entrance to camp for the rest of her party.

"Well, I guess I'd best be going," said Mudpaw. "Don't worry though, I'll be sure to tell you guys everything that happens. Well, bye, I guess."

"Bye, Mudpaw!" chirped Whitepaw and Onekit together as he ran off to join Cottonstar and the rest of the cats going to the Gathering. They remained watching him until they left and then Whitepaw turned to Onekit, smiling, "So, what exactly does this 'keeping company' of yours entail?" she asked jokingly. In reply Onekit playfully butted her side with his head and then the two of them began rolling around the camp. playfully fighting each other.

From the entrance to the nursery, Whitenose watched and smiled for a while before turning inside to see to her other kittens.


	3. The Gathering

This chapter is from Mudpaw's point of view. I thought I'd better say so just so you don't get confused. I'm going to be doing a lot of the chapter's from the points of views of some of the other cats, just because I think it's always interesting to take a break from the main character and see what's going on in one of the other characters' heads. Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

_ Whoa_, thought Mudpaw as Cottonstar led the Clan down into Fourtrees. He had never been to the place at nighttime before, and he had to say, it looked absolutely splendid bathed in the light of the full moon. Each of the leaves on the four solid oaks was outlined in silver, and that made the entire clearing glow like a large star. He could scent that WindClan was the first Clan to get here, and couldn't stop a smirk from spreading across his features at that. _I always knew WindClan was the best!_ he thought to himself.

Just then there was a rustling from the bushes at the top of hill on the ThunderClan side of the clearing. Mudpaw turned his head sharply just in time to see the ThunderClan cats speeding down the hill and spilling out into the clearing. He watched as one of the ThunderClan cats, a large dark mottled tabby tom, pushed his way through the throng of cats and leaped up onto the Great Rock alongside Cottonstar. "Greetings, Razorstar," murmured the white she-cat softly.

"Hello, Cottonstar," returned Razorstar, and Mudpaw realized that he must be ThunderClan's leader. He stared hard at the tom, never having seen the leader of another Clan before. He wondered what qualities he possessed to make a good leader and whether any of the ThunderClan apprentices thought the same about Cottonstar. Just then, Razorstar seemed to notice him staring, and swung his head around to stare at Mudpaw. The small WindClan felt as the amber eyes of Razorstar could see straight through him, and, shuddering, turned to see if he could find any friendly ThunderClan.

Mudclaw sighed and nodded his head, though privately he wished that he had never spoken to the cat he was now engaged in a more-or-less one-sided conversation with. He was currently listening to what seemed to be the life story of this dreadfully boring ThunderClan apprentice named Foxpaw, and all he could think of was how much he wished that a hawk would swoop down out of the sky and carry him away, if only he could escape this dangerously boring exchange without appearing rude!

"So then," continued Foxpaw, pausing to almost choke on his own laughter, "So then me and Brindlepaw chased the squirrel right up the tree and it threw acorns at us! Our pelts stung for moons afterwards!"

Mudpaw nodded in a not-so-interested sort of way and, while Foxpaw was laughing again, rolled his eyes. Foxpaw was just about to continue when Mudpaw interrupted. "I'm sorry, I think I've just spotted a friend. Thanks for this_ very _entertaining conversation."

"Sure. Anytime." said Foxpaw, as if he didn't realize that he had just been blown off by a younger apprentice. Mudpaw hastened away, fervently hoping that Foxpaw would just drop dead before he made someone else die from listening to his boring converstion. He was so busy hoping this and being relieved at finally escaping Foxpaw that he didn't notice the pale gray she-cat crossing in front of him. He crashed into her and sent both of them tumbling to the ground.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized hastily, leaping to his paws. "I should have been paying attention to where I was going. I-"

"Forget about it." interrupted the pale-gray she-cat, blinking her blue eyes at him. "It's nothing an introduction and a seat when the Gathering officially begins won't cure." She smiled, "So what's your name? I'm Willowpaw."

"I- I'm Mudpaw, of WindClan." stammered Mudpaw. He had never stammered before in his life, and all of a sudden his mouth felt very dry.

"Well Mudpaw, nice to meet you." She suddenly swung her head very sharply to look over her shoulder, her muzzle lifted high as she scented the air. "Hey, ShadowClan and RiverClan have finally decided to show up! It's about time! Hey, since it seems like the Gathering's going to start soon anyway, what do you say about getting those seats?"

Mudpaw just sat there stunned as Willowpaw began to saunter off. Half of what she had just said hadn't yet begin to be processed by his brain, and he was still pretty surprised that she thought it was nice meeting him. It therefore came as quite a surprise to him when he heard her asking him, "Are you coming?" and looked up to see her almost two fox-lengths away from him and looking back over her shoulder.

Recovering quickly he stumbled to his paws and hastened to catch up with her, saying, "Yeah, I'm coming," as he did so. He caught up with her and the two headed for a seat a respectable distance from the Great Rock, but not so far away that they couldn't see. As the Gathering began, the two sat in a comfortable silence, listening intently to the different leader's speak, but not a single word of what they were saying registering in their minds.

**Author's Note**: Yeah, okay, I realize it's a little short, but the next chapter is going to be longer, I promise!


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